H. Dean Buttram Jr.
Appointed by President William J. Clinton in 1998 and confirmed by voice vote, H. Dean Buttram Jr. was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. He earned a law degree from Samford University, Cumberland School of Law in 1978. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1950 · age 76
- Appointed by
- William J. Clinton, 1998
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Jacksonville State 1972 · Samford, Cumberland Law 1978
- Succeeded
- Robert Bruce Propst
- Succeeded by
- L. Scott Coogler
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Northern District of Alabama succeeded Robert Bruce Propst | Clinton (D) | Voice vote |
Party letters show the appointing president’s party, not the judge’s own. A voice vote means the chamber approved aloud. No senator-by-senator tally is recorded.
Confirmation vote
Voice vote
The Senate approved this confirmation aloud, with no senator-by-senator tally recorded. Recorded roll-call votes begin in 1989.
Education
| Jacksonville State University | B.A. | 1972 |
| Jacksonville State University | M.B.A., M.P.A. | 1975 |
| Samford University, Cumberland School of Law | J.D. | 1978 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Buttram was assigned 979 district-court cases (1994–2002). Median time from filing to termination: 181 days across 979 closed cases.
Case assignment is from CourtListener’s PACER-derived docket records: a partial sample, not a complete caseload, reflecting the judge last assigned each case. How we count.
In our data, Buttram authored 38 published opinions for the court (1998–2002). Most cited: Mercantile Capital, LP v. Federal Transtel, Inc. (55 citations).
A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included. Counts and rankings are objective and recomputable: how we count. We describe the record, not the judge.
Recent & notable rulings
| Year | Case | Citation | Cited |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Mercantile Capital, LP v. Federal Transtel, Inc. | 193 F. Supp. 2d 1243 | 55 |
| 2002 | Thrasher v. Ivan Leonard Chevrolet, Inc. | 195 F. Supp. 2d 1314 | 37 |
| 2001 | Walker v. Briley | 140 F. Supp. 2d 1249 | 17 |
| 2002 | Miller v. Bed, Bath & Beyond, Inc. | 185 F. Supp. 2d 1253 | 16 |
| 2001 | Smith v. Network Solutions, Inc. | 135 F. Supp. 2d 1159 | 13 |
| 2002 | McClain v. Metabolife International, Inc. | 193 F. Supp. 2d 1252 | 12 |
| 2000 | Moore v. Liberty National Insurance | 108 F. Supp. 2d 1266 | 12 |
| 2000 | Burke v. Ruttenberg | 102 F. Supp. 2d 1280 | 12 |
| 2001 | Transit Homes of America v. Homes of Legend, Inc. | 173 F. Supp. 2d 1185 | 11 |
| 2001 | Alexander v. Vesta Insurance Group, Inc. | 147 F. Supp. 2d 1223 | 9 |
| 2002 | Broadcast Music, Inc. v. Entertainment Complex, Inc. | 198 F. Supp. 2d 1291 | 8 |
| 1999 | Bevill v. UAB Walker College | 62 F. Supp. 2d 1259 | 8 |
| 1999 | Wynn Ex Rel. Alabama v. Philip Morris Inc. | 51 F. Supp. 2d 1232 | 8 |
| 2001 | American Household Products, Inc. v. Evans Manufacturing, Inc. | 139 F. Supp. 2d 1235 | 7 |
| 1999 | Nolin v. Town of Springville | 45 F. Supp. 2d 894 | 7 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 38 authored opinions in our data. “Cited” is inbound citations across the CourtListener corpus. Case links open the ruling’s full text (CourtListener) or its page here; read the methodology and verify against the primary source.
Questions & answers
- Who appointed H. Dean Buttram Jr.?
- President William J. Clinton appointed H. Dean Buttram Jr. to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama in 1998.
- Was H. Dean Buttram Jr. appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- H. Dean Buttram Jr. was appointed by President William J. Clinton, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was H. Dean Buttram Jr.'s confirmation vote?
- H. Dean Buttram Jr. was confirmed by voice vote on October 8, 1998. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was H. Dean Buttram Jr. on?
- H. Dean Buttram Jr. was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- CourtListener bulk data (Free Law Project): authored opinions & citation counts
How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources
See something wrong? Report an error. Fixes are logged in the corrections log.
3 years on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).